Newspapers are great primary sources for the researchers and both of these projects are free services. Prior to the digital age researchers had to slog through binders of clipped articles, microfilm, or through the actual newspapers. Now researchers can use keyword searching to conduct research across multiple papers. I quickly found the The New Paltz Times (1860-1919) where I focused my efforts – it was an invaluable source for information about the burying ground I was looking for.

Newspapers are also a great resource for genealogy, often richly documenting a community’s births, marrriages, and deaths. In some cases, newspapers are the only resources documenting someone’s existence, in others they can tell deeper stories about dry research “facts.”

There’s one more newspaper source that shouldn’t go unmentioned. Chronicling America, a project of the Library of Congress, is also a free online searchable database of historic U.S. newspapers – and they have just posted their 10 millionth page.

About A. J. Schenkman

A.J. Schenkman teaches history in the Lower Hudson Valley and writes about the history of Ulster and Orange counties. He is the town of Gardiner Historian and Consulting Historian for Historic Huguenot Street. A.J. Has appeared on WAMC, and WDST. He is the author of several books. A.J. is a frequent contributor to Orange and Ulster Magazines.

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5 thoughts on “NYS History Resource: Old Newspapers Online”

We enjoy both of those terrific websites! NY Historic Newspapers ease of use is wonderful – especially the search function for key words or phrases. Fulton History has a wealth of great newspapers and it is simply easy to get “lost” in some of the research (we mean that in a good way!)
Thanks for posting this article New York History Blog and Thank you to A.J. Schenkman for presenting the information on these sites!

We promote these sites heavily at the Northern New York American Canadian Genealogical Society and the Clinton County Historical Association Museum. People are always amazed at what they find. Don’t know what the local genealogical and historical communities would do without these sites.

I use these sites all the time. I share them with librarians all the time. I recently found a great article on an anti-suffrage speaker who came to Glens Falls in 1915. Having the Post-Star so easily accessible is wonderful.